July - a summer pavlova
July 2025
The days are bright and long, the pigs are wallowing in glorious mud, the lambs are growing like the weeds that the goats are greedily munching through, and the kitchen garden is abundant; July is a time for celebration and for making hay while the sun shines.
This month we are celebrating with parties galore, my good friend is turning 50, she will not forgive me for this, but ‘happy birthday Nic’! We have the annual formal cocktail party with my husband’s work, which always starts elegantly and ends up with us dancing in our bare feet. Our chums are visiting us from the USA, it is our 10th wedding anniversary, and if that wasn’t enough, it’s the end of the school year, and the end of my daughter’s tenure at the village school. There are just 4 children in my daughter’s class, she has had a wonderful start to her education, it will be a sad moment when she leaves the school gates for the last time, I am already stockpiling tissues.
Once I’m back in my wellies rather than in my dancing shoes, the biggest decision and the reason for my current weather obsession is when to make hay.
It’s a fun time, but as anxiety inducing as lambing and farrowing is, and we usually incur a good few late nights trying to gather the hay before the rain inevitably comes in - the decisions we take now will affect us during the long winter and could determine how many animals we have to sell at market if we need to buy in additional fodder.
Food during the week of haymaking is quick to make, think Famous Five picnics of freshly laid softly boiled hens’ eggs with hastily made, crusty soda bread and fruit picked from the orchard; meals are often taken in the field and accompanied by a local cider.
I’ll always cook up a feast once the hay barn is full to celebrate; this month’s recipe is perfect for such an occasion - a summer pavlova is a thing of beauty. This one is decadent - herbal and earthy from the fresh bay leaves, with the roasted apricots offering their honeyed sweetness, I urge you to make it and celebrate this wonderful British summer.
Apricot and Bay Pavlova
Your perfect summer pudding; pillowy, sweet meringue combined with earthy, luxurious bay creme diplomat, topped with gently roasted apricots.
Meringue
6 egg whites
350g caster sugar
1tsp white wine vinegar
1sp cornflour
Preheat the oven to 150degrees. Whip the egg whites while slowly adding the caster sugar, until all the sugar is combined and the meringue looks smooth, glossy and forms stiff peaks. Mix the vinegar and cornflour together and gently stir through the meringue. Spoon the meringue onto a shallow tray covered with baking paper, forming a plate-sized pavlova base. Reduce the oven temp by 10 degrees and bake for 60 minutes, turn the oven off at this point, but leave the meringue inside to cool for 60 minutes.
Bay creme diplomat
6 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
500ml milk
15 fresh bay leaves
60g cornflour
300ml whipping cream
Infuse the milk with the bay leaves and heat to 80deg. Add the eggs, sugar and cornflour into a bowl and mix well. Remove the bay leaves and pour the hot milk over the eggs, whisking continuously. Add the milk and egg mixture back into your pan and gently heat until thickened, or it reaches 83deg. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold into the cooled custard.
Apricots
1kg ripe apricots
1 vanilla pod, split down the middle
2 tbsp caster sugar
Handful Bay leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
Halve the apricots and add to a tray with the rest of the ingredients, mix well. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until tender and syrupy and the edges are starting to caramelise.
Top the meringue with lashings of creme diplomat and gently spoon over the apricots and their fragrant syrup. Although difficult attempt to share with friends and family and serve with glasses of chilled Somerset ice Cyder.
